Netflix Top 25 in Anime & Animation

After her family moves to the suburbs, Chihiro wanders into a magical world where a witch rules -- and those who disobey her are turned into animals. When Chihiro's parents become pigs, she must find a way to help them return to their human form."

In this anime epic from director Hayao Miyazaki, Prince Ashitaka (voiced by Billy Crudup) is infected with a lethal curse, and must travel to find a cure. On his journey, he discovers himself caught in a battle between a mining town and the animals of the surrounding forest. A girl raised by wolves (Claire Danes) leads the animals, but the forest harbors deadly supernatural powers. Critic Roger Ebert hailed the movie one of 1999's 10 best films."

In this animated adventure, genius robotics engineer Hiro Hamada finds himself enmeshed in a nefarious scheme to wipe out the city of San Fransokyo. Accompanied by his robot best friend, Hero joins a ragtag team intent on saving the City by the Bay."

Based on Marjane Satrapi's autobiographical graphic novel, this Oscar nominee for Best Animated Feature Film follows a young woman's childhood in repressive Iran, her adolescence in France and her return to Tehran as an adult."

Straight from the creators of the groundbreaking Matrix trilogy, this collection of short animated films from the world's leading anime directors fuses computer graphics and Japanese anime to provide the background of the Matrix universe and the conflict between man and machines. The shorts include Final Flight of the Osiris, The Second Renaissance, Kid's Story, Program, World Record, Beyond, A Detective Story and Matriculated."

On the run from cosmic enemies, a band of aliens arrives on Earth looking for a safe haven, but one of them inadvertently gives away his location. As the extraterrestrial refugee desperately tries to avoid capture, he begins learning about humans."

This anthology features seven independent anime shorts from Hideki Futamura, Toshiyuki Kanno and other renowned directors, each delving into the beguiling futuristic universe of the smash-hit video game Halo. The adventures and dark history of Halo are told in "The Babysitter," "The Duel," "The Package," "Origins," "Homecoming," "Prototype" and a tongue-in-cheek spoof of the Halo world, "Odd One Out.""

When a tiny "borrower" named Arrietty makes friends with a young boy many times her size, she must also shield her family from his towering elders. But trouble brews when a curious maid starts asking questions."

Picking up where the TV series of the same name left off, this feature-length anime follows siblings Alphonse and Edward Elric in their efforts to reunite after Edward is exiled on Earth for the brothers' failed attempt to resurrect their mother."

In this naughty animated comedy, a fall from a shopping cart forces a supermarket wiener and his food pals to embark on a dangerous journey through the store to make it back to their proper aisles before the Independence Day sale."

In this animated tale that's as riveting as it is retro, genius teen inventor Ray Steam receives a strange spherical device containing a mind-boggling new form of energy that can power a whole country. Soon, two ominous gents turn up looking to get their hands on the gadget; the next thing you know, Ray is caught in a battle between the Yanks and the Brits, who'll do anything to obtain the priceless orb."

In this cautionary anime tale, reality and the dream world are on a collision course after a DC-Mini -- an experimental device that can record dreams -- is stolen from a psychiatric research facility. When the thief begins intertwining the patients' nightmares with the staff's dreams, it's clear that the DC-Mini has fallen into dangerous hands. Can Dr. Atsuko Chiba and her alter ego, a sprightly avatar named Paprika, stop the madness?"

Writer-director Mamoru Oshii's animated thriller concocts a complex follow-up to his monster hit, Ghost in the Shell. It's now 2032, and machines and people have grown so similar they're virtually interchangeable. The fate of the human race hangs in the balance, and a robot with human tendencies, Batou, is the only one who's able to decipher why humanity has lost its allure. When he figures out the answer, he'll face life's ultimate questions."

In this feature-length animated film based on the popular anime series of the same name, childhood friends Tetsuo and Kaneda are pulled into the post-apocalyptic underworld of Neo-Tokyo and forced to fight for their very survival. Kaneda is a bike gang leader, and Tetsuo is a member of a tough motorcycle crew who becomes involved in a covert government project called Akira. But a bloody battle ensues when Kaneda sets out to save his friend."

In the year 2071 on Mars, a lethal virus is released when a band of rogues blows up a tanker truck. Putting a stop to any future biochemical assaults -- and making some reward money off the job -- are Capt. Spike Siegel and his crew of vigilantes."

A battle-weary warrior must save her utopian city in this action-packed 3D anime. It's the year 2131, and warrior Deunan Knute finds herself in a battle with the Bioroids, a race of artificial humans intent on conquering the city of Olympus."

This delectably dark animated short tells the gruesome tale of a shipwrecked sailor (voiced by Gerard Butler) forced to go to horrific lengths -- including building a raft of corpses -- to return home and warn his family of an imminent attack by an evil pirate ship. Based on a story within the graphic novel Watchmen, this release was originally part of the script for director Zack Snyder's 2009 live-action adaptation of the comic book."

In the second feature revolving around Masamune Shirow's popular manga, cyborg terrorists threaten to shatter the ever-precarious peace of postapocalyptic Olympus, home to the last shreds of humanity. After guerrillas nearly destroy Briareos in a shootout, Deunan -- his partner and gal pal -- is paired with Tereus, a strapping "bioroid" produced from Briareos's DNA. But complications ensue when Tereus takes a shine to Deunan."

In this extraterrestrial animated epic, the "Ice Age" gang find themselves far up in the air after Scrat leaps off the planet while chasing his magical acorn, inadvertently triggering events that put Earth in jeopardy."

Fuu is a spacey waitress at a teahouse where a swordfight breaks out between two warriors. In exchange for saving the pair from execution, Fuu demands that they accompany her on a journey to find "a samurai who smells of sunflowers.""

In the wake of a large-scale disaster that literally shatters the moon, plants -- not humans -- become the world's most intelligent life forms, until a young boy discovers a mysterious girl who's been in a state of suspended animation for 300 years. Her awakening threatens to disrupt the expansive and long-dominate Forest. Keiichi Sugiyama directs this futuristic anime that explores the delicate interplay between man and his natural environment."

When an alcoholic, a transvestite and a young runaway happen upon an abandoned baby in a dumpster on Christmas Eve, they go in search of the child's parents, encountering an assortment of oddball characters along the way."

High school student Makoto Konno discovers that she can travel back in time. Following a series of frivolous time leaps, Makoto learns that her powers have a negative impact on the people around her and sets out to correct the effects of her actions."

Springing from the hit British TV series, this jaunty animated tale follows roguish alpha-sheep Shaun, who schemes to take a day off by lulling the Farmer to sleep. But when the plan goes awry, it's up to Shaun and his flock to rescue their master."

A gallery of fairies, goblins and other fantastic creatures hilariously compete for ownership of a potent miracle potion in this lavish animated musical adventure inspired by Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream.""